There were definately some strange lapses, Haas at Wimbledon 09 and the loss at FO 2010 come to mind. As well as 2008 Safin at Wimbledon, though grass is his worst surface and Safin had his last hurrah there. He never would have past Fed in the semi anyway.

But most slams, he was pretty close.

07 USO final. He just wasnt ready. He was good enough and should have won this match.

08 RG. Superman Nadal. But he absolutely ran him close in set 3, he played great. But this isnt his fault, this was clay GOAT at his peak. He got closer than Fed did.

08 USO. Fed beat him in a close match. Fed was great in this tourney, JesusFed came out in the final.

09 AO. The heat got him, he was winning that Roddick match otherwise.
Its his own fault but this can happen to anyone.

09 FO. This was the one real let down for me. He played like a doofus.

09 USO - Again, lost out to a very good Fed in 3 very close sets.

2010 AO - Got the shits in a bad way

2010 SW19 - Got beat, but there was a bad call vs him in set 2 tiebreak that changed the whole direction of the match.

2010 USO - Dont really know what happened here. He was tired but shouldnt have been.

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"I did not play my best tennis, no? And..that is what enable him to win..to win this match no? "

I don't think he was unlucky...he just lost his focus. stupid change of racket etc. I really think that he should have won more slams after the AO 2008 win but he went backwards in a way. what he is doing right now is amazing, but his performance at the AO back in 2008 was absolutely astonishing. I still think it's the best tournament he's ever played.

However, he was only 20yo. I guess he had to mature as a player which he certainly did...

He was unlucky in the sense that he had to coexist with two of the best players ever to play the game. In order to win Grand Slams consistently, a great game is not enough. A player needs incredible mental strength and confidence. In 2007 Novak showed the world(and himself) that he had the right attitude and the game to be a champion. He reached the #3 spot, but Grand Slams proved elusive for him, they are at a different level. In 2008 he managed to play a fantastic Grand Slam in Australia, but he didn't have the maturity to keep that up day in day out. He was only 20, too young.

But kudos to him for not getting depressed: he kept his #3 ranking and kept dreaming, and kept working and improving...Until he was ready...

In the end the bad luck that he had to coexist with the greatest players, he turned into good luck: he used it to become the player he now is.

I'm hoping that he'll remain injury-free for a long time. Now is his time.

He was unlucky in the sense that he had to coexist with two of the best players ever to play the game. In order to win Grand Slams consistently, a great game is not enough. A player needs incredible mental strength and confidence. In 2007 Novak showed the world(and himself) that he had the right attitude and the game to be a champion. He reached the #3 spot, but Grand Slams proved elusive for him, they are at a different level. In 2008 he managed to play a fantastic Grand Slam in Australia, but he didn't have the maturity to keep that up day in day out. He was only 20, too young.

But kudos to him for not getting depressed: he kept his #3 ranking and kept dreaming, and kept working and improving...Until he was ready...

In the end the bad luck that he had to coexist with the greatest players, he turned into good luck: he used it to become the player he now is.

I'm hoping that he'll remain injury-free for a long time. Now is his time.

good post Yolita. I like Nole in a sense that he never gives up. He kept pushing himself and now he is winning almost everything. He kinda learned from his own mistakes...

Why is it always the top players that MTF has this kind of talk about? What about the people who have to face Djokovic in slams and they might've been able to get a round further if it weren't for him or some other slam champion being in the way I don't know what it is, but it seems like fans of the top players are rarely satisfied, no matter what the accomplishments their favorites have achieved. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like everytime a major draw comes out, they seem to complain the loudest when anybody who is "good" might face their precious favorite. If he is worthy of the title, then he will win it by earning it. Otherwise, someone else had a better tournament.